Command & Conquer Chronicles : Mastermind
by OOM-9
Summary: A small tale about the Mastermind from Yuri's Revenge. Based on stories by Michael O'Hare.


Author's Notes: Jesus. I haven't touched this thing since November 14, 2001. I'm just finishing it for the sake of finishing it. My Yuri's Revenge and Red Alert 2 discs are all scratched up, so I haven't played them for a loooooong time. I'm just wrapping this up as quickly as possible. So it's short. Oh well, the other stories weren't very long either. And hell, it's not like anybody reads these things anyways. Bah oh well.   
  
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"You can shed your mortal shell and join with me. You will share my power and resources to save humanity and restore civilization from the smoking ruins of the wasteland. " - The Calculator, Fallout: Tactics  
  
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Initiate 94539 beamed with pride. He had just concluded a conversation with his master and leader, Yuri. Impressed by the young man's psychic potential, Yuri had offered 94539 a place at his side. Beginning tomorrow he would soon become the elite of the elite. Unburdened by the dead weight known as flesh and blood to most, he would become the most powerful being in the universe. He would join the Masterminds, the elite prospectors of Yuri's psychic army.  
  
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The next day the Initiate followed several of his comrades into the place where his ascension into enlightenment would begin. There was a harsh white light and the only thing in the squeaky clean operating room was a metal table and a tray with several deadly looking instruments. Whether or not the operation would be painful did not matter to the Initiate, for he was above pain. Pain was something sprouting from an unfocused mind, and the Initiate knew he was completely in control of his thoughts. He calmly lay down on the table and cleared his mind as the others sterilized their hands and instruments. In the distant corners of his mind, Initiate 94539 heard the sound of a saw revving up, felt something running on his skull, and strangely enough, felt peace.  
Finally he felt the sensation of air blowing on his brain, and he twinged a little bit. He felt something cold against his nerves, and all of a sudden his world became dark as his brain was severed from his physical being. Reaching out, he tapped into the minds of those around him and saw clearer than ever before. He could see his mind being placed into a sealed glass jar. He could see them open a door and walk into a dark room. And he saw as they flipped a switch and a beautiful glow enveloped the most magnificent vessel he ever laid eyes upon. It was a tank-like vehicle, with a dome instead of a turret. It was his future body. Advanced copper wiring and vacuum tubing would be his nervous system. Heavy duty treads would be his limbs. Gasoline would power his body; a custom made engine would keep him going. Cameras lining the vehicle would be his eyes; his mind would provide the rest. Finally, advanced durasteel plating would be his impenetrable skin, and his skull would not be flimsy bone, but ten inches of reinforced bulletproof transparent Plexiglas.  
Engineers opened up a hatch and carefully placed his splendid brain into the protective dome filled with life sustaining liquid. The hatch was then sealed and welded shut, never to be opened again. As a child he had been told tales of people being trapped for more the 24,000 years in ignominy awaiting immortality, but with Yuri's help, Initiate 94539 had achieved immortality in under 24 hours. Triumphantly, Mastermind 57 rolled out of the garage and boarded a waiting cargo plane for a city with many minds that could be turned to Yuri's cause. The ancient plane slowly pulled free of the runway and headed toward the war-torn city of Los Angeles.  
  
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After 10.5355 hours in flight, the C-17 cargo plane finally touched down at one of Yuri's airfields in the area. The Mastermind, unburdened by fatigue, immediately barreled off the transport, while Initiates slowly awakened from the long flight and stumbled off after him. His gleaming metal body stopped for a few minutes at the rallying point, waiting for his inferior flesh burdened partners to gather their strength, he then proceeded into the city, his escorts straggling along behind him. Hunting was poor at first. There were several weak minded civilians and GIs hiding around, but he probed their minds, quickly located them, and slowly led them one by one to the grinders, for 'processing'. Every once in a while the task force would encounter GIs hiding inside buildings with psi-disruptors deployed. In these situations, he simply notified telekinetics who quickly and efficiently collapsed the buildings, forcing the GIs out to where Mastermind 57 quickly controlled them.  
They kept this up for quite some time, systimatically hunting down enemies, sending them to the grinders and bio reactors, and then razing the city. However, while probing the mind of a doomed GI, he felt a disturbance. The Allies were preparing a massive strike toward the heart of the base. Minutes later, an urgent alert by the Psychic Radar would confirm this. Everyone beat a hasty retreat and dug into their tank bunkers and walls, awaiting the coming storm.  
  
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The first to strike were the robot drones. These flawed creatures lacked a mind, much like the Terror and Chaos Drones. Nevertheless, they were effective, moreso because they actually had a mind controlling them, just miles away, at the Allied base. Efficient as they were, bunkered Lashers slowly picked them off one by one. After the robots were gone, Mastermind 57 slowly advanced. A squad of tanks approached in unison, but that unity delved into chaos as he warped their minds so they destroyed one another. The feeling was incredible. In the past he was only able to maintain control over one being, but with his new body he could dominate many. Their thoughts, their feelings, their pasts, all ran through him. The feeling was glorious. Through the jumble of disjointed empty thoughts of the masses, he organized them and provided them with one unified purpose. Chaos ensued as the Allied forces found their former comrades turning on them. By the time the firing squad of gattling cannons had revved up to full speed, all that remained of the Allied armies were scorched shrapnel and mangled flesh.  
The mind almost wished he had a mouth, so he could smile. At Yuri's whim, Mastermind 57 and his fellow crusaders moved into the town to free their enemies from their tragic lives and put them to use supporting the war effort. They had moved a good distance into the city, when the Mastermind sensed the presence of others minds all around him. As if on cue, cannon fire emerged from concealed barrels on what appeared at first glance to be trees. The Allied Mirage Tanks ripped through the leather clad Initiates marching alongside the Mastermind, but despite their pitiful human screams of pain, he remained calm and grasped at the minds of the tank pilots. So many thoughts. So many feelings. So much power. He wanted more. Even while he set about the task of using the Allies weapons and people against themselves, he snatched the minds of the Allied infantry and tanks coming to help their comrades.  
  
[Warning: Capacitors reaching critical level.]  
  
More. More minds. More control. More power.  
  
[Warning: Energy Capacitors full. Temperature levels critical. Warning.]  
  
'I am the most powerful being to exist on this planet. I am the Mastermind!'  
  
[Warning: Damage critical. Damage Critical. Dama-  
  
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The Gattling Tank gunner winced and covered his face with his elbow as the large gleaming vehicle in front of him sparked and exploded, its parts flying out in all directions. Idiot psychics. Unable to control their lust for power. They couldn't just 'kill' the Allies. Oh no, that would be crude, simple, below their level. Screw that. He flipped a switch and continued pouring a hail of bullets on the hated Allies, Mastermind57's fate already out of his mind.  
  
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Author's Notes: Ah! I haven't played CnC for so long, I can't even remember any Gattling Tank quotes except for "Rev up those Cylinders"! AAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhh! Whatever ever will happen to me now! *runs away screaming*  
  
Bah. Time to move on to Halo stories. 


End file.
